Peter Velits (born 21 February 1985 in Bratislava) is a Slovakian former professional road racing cyclist. His career highlights included third place overall and a stage win at the 2010 Vuelta a España, the 2007 World Under-23 Road Race Championships gold and the 2012 Tour of Oman overall victory.[2] Velits was also known as strong time-trialist, winning three consecutive team time trials as a part of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step in 2012 and 2013 and riding on the BMC Racing Team in 2014 UCI Road World Championships. His twin brother, Martin Velits also competed professionally, having raced on the same teams every year until the end of the 2013 season.

Peter Velits
Velits at the 2015 Grand Prix Pino Cerami
Personal information
Full namePeter Velits
Born (1985-02-21) 21 February 1985 (age 39)
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, (now Slovakia)
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight65 kg (143 lb; 10.2 st)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeAll-rounder
Amateur teams
2004Dukla Trenčín
2005–2006Team Konica Minolta
Professional teams
2007Wiesenhof–Felt
2008–2009Team Milram
2010–2011Team HTC–Columbia
2012–2013Omega Pharma–Quick-Step[1]
2014–2016BMC Racing Team
Major wins
Grand Tours
Vuelta a España
1 individual stage (2010)
2 TTT stages (2010, 2015)

Stage races

Tour of Oman (2012)

One-day races and Classics

National Time Trial Championships (2012, 2013, 2014)
GP de Fourmies (2007)
Medal record
Men's road bicycle racing
Representing  Slovakia
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2007 Stuttgart Under-23 road race
Representing Omega Pharma–Quick-Step
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Valkenburg Team time trial
Gold medal – first place 2013 Florence Team time trial
Representing BMC Racing Team
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Ponferrada Team time trial

After two seasons with the team, Velits left Omega Pharma–Quick-Step at the end of the 2013 season to join the BMC Racing Team.[3] He remained with the team until he retired at the end of the 2016 season.[4]

Major results

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2003
National Junior Road Championships
1st   Road race
1st   Time trial
2004
7th Overall Tour d'Egypte
10th Overall UAE Emirates Post Tour
10th Grand Prix Bradlo
2005
1st   Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships
1st Stage 6 Vuelta a Navarra
3rd Overall Giro delle Regioni
6th Overall Ringerike GP
2006
1st   Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships
1st Overall Giro del Capo
1st Stage 2
1st Grand Prix Kooperativa
2nd Overall Grand Prix Guillaume Tell
1st Stage 2
4th Overall Tour de Bretagne
4th Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem
5th Overall Tour de la Somme
9th Overall Tour of Japan
2007
1st   Road race, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships
1st Grand Prix de Fourmies
3rd GP Triberg-Schwarzwald
9th Overall Bayern Rundfahrt
1st Young rider classification
9th Overall Giro del Capo
2008
  Combativity award Stage 17 Tour de France
2009
1st Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
3rd Clásica de San Sebastián
5th Gran Premio di Lugano
6th Prague–Karlovy Vary–Prague
7th Monte Paschi Strade Bianche
8th GP Triberg-Schwarzwald
10th Milan–San Remo
2010
3rd Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stages 1 (TTT) & 17 (ITT)
10th Overall Volta ao Algarve
2012
1st   Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
National Road Championships
1st   Time trial
2nd Road race
1st   Overall Tour of Oman
2013
1st   Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
1st   Time trial, National Road Championships
10th Overall Paris–Nice
2014
1st   Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
National Road Championships
1st   Time trial
2nd Road race
9th Overall Dubai Tour
9th Overall Paris–Nice
2015
Vuelta a España
1st Stage 1 (TTT)
Held   after Stage 1

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

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Grand Tour 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
  Giro d'Italia Did not contest during career
  Tour de France 57 30  — 18 27 25 27  —
  Vuelta a España  —  — 3  —  —  —  — DNF

Did not finish = DNF

References

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  1. ^ "Les frères Velits chez Omega Pharma-Quick Step" [The brothers Velits at Omega Pharma-Quick Step]. rtbf.be (in French). RTBF. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  2. ^ "Velits claims Oman title". Sky Sports. BSkyB. 19 February 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  3. ^ "Peter Velits leaving Omega Pharma-Quickstep for BMC Racing". Sky Sports. BSkyB. 10 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Peter Velits announces retirement from cycling". CyclingNews. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
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